Adelgis whirled around, his eyes wide.
“Someone’s coming,” he said telepathically. “She has keys to the lab.”
A second later, someone fiddled with the handle of the door.
17
The Legend Of Gods
Karna-Theasin straightened his clothes, and Luthair slid back into the shadows.
The door opened, revealing a young woman with hair and eyes the color of chestnut. Her hair had been tied back in an elegant bun, with loose locks that seemed strategically placed for aesthetic appeal. It was the same with her robes—at first glance they appeared thrown on, but the way the cloth dipped in the front, displaying collarbone, and the manner in which the belt had been cinched tightly around her waist, hinted at intentional design.
The arcanist mark on her forehead had a bird, but before I could determine exactly what her eldrin was, a creature flew into the lab. It was a brown owl wearing tiny bits of battle armor, all crafted from bronze. Its talons were metallic, and some of its feathers shone as though made from polished steel.
It was a minerva owl—intelligent beings who lived far to the north, much closer to my island nation than to the Amber Dunes. The bird landed on the counter, its giant golden eyes flitting from one person to the next.
The woman’s expression blossomed into excitement the moment she caught sight of Theasin. “You really are here. I thought the servants had to be mistaken, but I’m pleased they’re not.”
“Her name is Setti,” Adelgis telepathically said, the speed more frantic than his earlier communications.
“I needed to retrieve something,” Karna-Theasin said, curt and cold. “Do you care to explain what you’re doing in my labs?”
Adelgis gritted his teeth, his expression shifting to visible concern. “She’s my father’s mistress.”
The information surprised me, but not much. Theasin was married, but apparently, Adelgis and his brother, Niro, had different mothers. Learning that Theasin had a lover in a far-off city only confirmed what I already suspected of the man—he had all the loyalty of a feral cat.
Setti narrowed her eyes, and her minerva owl twisted its head all the way around to stare at the fake Theasin. Would Theasin have snapped at his lover like this? It didn’t seem so—not by their reactions—and a piece of me suspected we would need to force our way out of here if Setti guessed we were impostures.
After a quick exhale, Karna-Theasin ran a hand through his short black hair. “It’s been an infuriating couple of days,” he said, apology in his tone, even if he didn’t say it—I suspected the real Theasin would never utter such words. “Returning to the labs has delayed my schedule.”
That was all Setti needed to hear, apparently.
Her posture relaxed, and she stepped closer to Karna-Theasin, a slight smile forming. “Well, everything is better now.” She caressed his arm from his elbow to shoulder, her slender fingers twirling into the folds of his cloak. “I have all the information you asked for, and I’m free for the rest of the day.”
The owl once again turned its giant eyes to everyone else in the room. “Where is Essellian?”
“That’s the name of my father’s eldrin,” Adelgis said, filling in the blanks at lightning speeds.
Karna-Theasin grazed his fingers along the side of Setti’s neck. “I left Essellian on the ship. I have no time to waste. You understand, don’t you, my desert flower?”
Although I thought it risky to throw out a pet name when Theasin seemed barely able to remember his own children’s names, the comment obviously affected Setti. Her sun-soaked skin deepened to a dark red, and she pressed herself up against Theasin in a seductive manner.
“Surely, you have a few minutes?” she whispered.
Sound echoed in the lab, carrying from one end to the other, even at low volumes.
I faced Adelgis, growing more uncomfortable with each passing second. She had seen us, right? But Setti continued with her sweet nothings as though she were alone in the room with Theasin, her hands trailing across his body. What was I supposed to do? Continue acting like a piece of furniture? Watch them like a perverted lamp as they nuzzled each other?
Perhaps I could shuffle into the corner and feign interest in one of the many mystical creature parts Theasin had lying about.
“You there, dog,” the minerva owl said.
“Me?” I asked, glancing back.
“Yes, you. Come take my arcanist’s paperwork.”
I stood dumbfounded for a prolonged while. What about me indicated I was Theasin’s dog? And why was the woman’s eldrin giving me orders?
The minerva owl puffed up his feathers, its round eyes squinted. “Quickly now. Or are you one of the dumb ones?”
I gave Adelgis an inquisitive glance. He returned it with a look of confusion and said nothing. Uncertain of what to do, I decided to play along. I walked over to Setti and Karna-Theasin and held out my hand. Setti didn’t bother acknowledging me. She handed over her paperwork and then shooed me away with a couple of flicks of her wrist.
Should I say something? Bow? Place fingers on my chest? I wasn’t sure, so I backed away, turned on my heel, and then walked to Adelgis’s side, my movements stiff.
“Did the Autarch give you those two?” Setti asked, an eyebrow raised. “They seem… less competent than normal.”
The Autarch?
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Adelgis said, his telepathic voice exuding confusion. “Setti and her eldrin keep thinking we’re agents of someone called the Autarch, but they don’t seem to know who that is. All they know is that it’s someone powerful and important. And they hold this Autarch in high regard, almost with mystical reverence, seemingly just because my father has spoken well of him in the past.”
Autarch was an archaic title. It meant absolute ruler and was used to denote someone more powerful than kings, queens, or emperors. Who would have had the audacity to use such a title nowadays? There was no kingdom, nation, or empire that still had it on the records, at least not that I knew of. Perhaps some distant land still clung to the old ways?
“Never mind them,” Karna-Theasin said. “People like us can never escape idiocy.”
I bit back a laugh, amazed by how much Setti appreciated such cruel remarks.
“Artificer Mixxin doesn’t know much about the Second Ascension,” Setti said. “That’s everything I found in his desk.” She got up on her tiptoes and kissed Theasin on the side of his neck. “If he figures anything else out, I’ll be sure to let you know straightaway.”
The paperwork in my hands became my sole focus of interest. I didn’t care about this unknown Autarch, nor did I care about Setti and her demanding eldrin. The Second Ascension was the name of the group who had the queen of the Argo Empire assassinated. They were the ones who had helped Prince Rishan usurp the throne. They were the ones who had killed all those arcanists in Thronehold.
They were the ones who had infected me with the arcane plague.
Karna-Theasin lifted Setti’s chin and brought his lips down on hers. Their embrace—and kiss—lasted longer than I thought necessary to pull off an impersonation, but I wasn’t about to interrupt. Once they finished, Setti stepped back, her face flushed worse than before.
Karna-Theasin smirked. “It’s a shame I can’t stay, but I need to leave as soon as possible. Before I go, can I count on you to do me one last favor?”
Setti rubbed at her hot cheeks. “Anything for you, my love.”
“Can you gather all known information on frost snails? They’re crucial to my upcoming research.”
“Frost… snails?” Setti repeated, her eyebrows knitting.
“Yes. They’re extremely rare mystical creatures. Only a handful of arcanists have ever seen one. I’m certain the Norra Library has details, but they’ll be difficult to find.” Karna-Theasin ran his knuckles down the side of Setti’s face. “Well, difficult for someone of lesser talents.”
She kissed his hand. “I’ll gather all the informati
on you need.” Then she stared up at him through her eyelashes. “And I’ll be here waiting for you once you’re done with your business.”
“I look forward to it.”
Apparently eager to please, Setti flashed a confident smile and then sauntered out of the lab. Her minerva owl flew off after her, not a word to anyone else. The door shut with a slam, echoing throughout Theasin’s lab.
“What’re frost snails?” I asked.
Karna-Theasin whirled around on his heel and shrugged. “I made them up. I wanted to send her on an impossible witch hunt because it amuses me.”
I couldn’t stifle my chuckling. “I see.”
Normally, I wouldn’t condone such behavior, but Setti and Theasin weren’t the types of people I wanted to protect from trivial harm.
“I also cut all the bottoms to Theasin’s coat pockets,” Karna-Theasin said, walking over with a smirk. “And I shaved down one of the legs on his personal chair, making it uneven and wobbly.”
Again, I couldn’t stop the laughter. I didn’t know why, but the petty revenge made the risk of getting caught seem all the more worthwhile. Theasin had implanted an abyssal leech into his own son, after all. He deserved to lose everything out of his coats—he deserved the irritation of an unsteady chair.
He probably deserved a whole lot more, but that was a discussion for a different day.
Karna-Theasin offered me a playful smile. “I need to get my jollies from somewhere.” Then he crossed his arms. “But I’ve gotten that all out of my system now. Are you two done?”
Adelgis hadn’t joined in on the fun. He folded his father’s paperwork and carefully stuffed his pockets, his eyes downturned and his expression haunted with melancholy. I didn’t push him. I just waited, not saying anything. Once he had all the papers, he glanced over.
“Volke,” he whispered. “You were thinking about star shards earlier.”
I nodded. “I don’t see any, though.”
“My father always keeps valuables in the bottom drawer of his desk.”
More than happy to take the shards, I walked around the desk and yanked on the drawer handle.
Locked.
Of course it was.
I exhaled, but before I gave in to frustration, Luthair shifted through the shadows and entered the drawer. A soft click floated up from the lock. I pulled on the handle, and to my delight, the drawer opened with ease.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Careful,” Luthair hissed. “Something is in here.”
I jerked my hand away and stepped back.
The half-opened drawer didn’t move. I waited, expecting a plague-ridden monster to leap out. But nothing happened. Karna-Theasin and Adelgis both stared, their stances tense, like they, too, had been preparing for a fight.
“What was in there?” I whispered.
“I’m sorry, my arcanist. I just had… a terrible feeling. A chill that I had never felt before. Like a presence.”
Luthair’s odd description didn’t sit well with me. An odd presence? What could possibly be in the drawer that would scare a knightmare?
I knelt down and carefully opened it to its fullest extent. Sure enough, a dozen star shards sat in the far back corner, all nestled in an open leather pouch. I didn’t reach for them. Instead, I stared at the only other items in the drawer—six long pieces of something, all black, and all wrapped in white silk cloth.
I stared at the fragments for a moment. They appeared to be familiar. They had the rough porous texture of bone, but their ebony coloration threw me off. I had never seen black bones before.
Scorched? No. Just black.
“Adelgis,” I said. “Do you know what this is?”
He stared down into the drawer, one eyebrow cocked. “I’m not sure. It’s probably from a mystical creature. I’m not sure which.”
I picked up the bone fragments, careful to hold them with the cloth. They were as long as my forearm and sharp at the points. What creature was big enough to have these? I turned them over, examining them from all angles.
The bones reminded me of knightmares, since they were creatures of darkness and terror. Perhaps this was somehow related? Could that be the reason Luthair was afraid?
I touched one of the bones with my other hand, the tips of my fingers brushing the side. A strong sense of power sparked at my fingertips. For a brief moment, it felt like the bones had been jerked awake, shocked into life because of my contact. They didn’t move or display any type of magic—they just felt… alive.
Adelgis held out a hand. “Alive? Let me see one?”
I handed Adelgis one of the fragments. He held it for a long moment.
“I feel nothing,” he said.
Karna-Theasin held out his hand, obviously wanting to partake in the experience. I handed him another one. Again, no reaction. Karna-Theasin just stared at the bone, underwhelmed.
But I could feel it. Something was different about these bones. Something that called forth a deep feeling in my chest. I wanted to keep them. Close.
And they had to be important. Why else had Theasin kept them in the drawer with his valuable star shards?
“This reminds me of the crown I stole,” Karna-Theasin muttered. “It looks like the same material. Maybe it’s rare?”
I spun the bone between my fingers. “Maybe my father will know what this is. He said he was a talented artificer in his own right.”
“We can find out more about these later,” Adelgis said as he handed back the bone. “Now isn’t the time. The longer we dally, the more likely we’ll run into someone else who knows my father.” He took the pouch of star shards and tied them to his belt.
Karna-Theasin relinquished his bone fragment as well.
I stood and tucked the bones into the waist of my trousers before covering them with my shirt. They were too long to fit into my pocket, and I didn’t want to carry them through the labs, just in case someone recognized them and tried to take them away. The sensation of them touching my skin directly kept me invigorated. Why didn’t the others feel what I did? How could they not sense the draw of these bones?
Karna-Theasin gave me the once-over. “What did that woman bring us, by the way? She seemed concerned about the paperwork.”
“Setti brought us information on the Second Ascension,” I said. “It’s not much. Just minor details that I already knew.” I hadn’t yet had time to read over it all, but I had skimmed most of it. “These are a findings report, basically.”
“What’s the Second Ascension?”
Although I had kept the information secret from Karna in the past, things had changed. She had helped me in more ways than one, united me with my father, and even helped us infiltrate the labs—a crime she could be punished for as well, if we were caught. She was an ally. I could trust her with the information, and it was probably prudent to start disseminating facts as soon as possible.
I exhaled. “The Second Ascension is a group of lunatics who created the arcane plague just so they could spawn a bunch of world-altering god-creatures.”
Karna-Theasin snapped his gaze to Adelgis, like he needed this statement to be confirmed by an outside source.
Adelgis nodded. “That’s what we suspect, anyway. They were the ones responsible for the attack on Thronehold. They call themselves the Second Ascension because this will be the second time god creatures have entered this world.”
“How many god creatures?” Karna-Theasin balked. “And when was the last time?”
“Twelve. Maybe thirteen. And a very long time ago. Back when star shards first rained to the ground.” Adelgis straightened his coat and headed for the door. “The Second Ascension knew of the legends that said that gods would spawn during the turning of an age—a time period of fundamental magical change. That’s why they created the arcane plague. They wanted to alter magic enough to force the god-creatures into existence.” Adelgis grabbed the door handle. “And even as we speak, the Second Ascension is out hunting down the first god—the world
serpent. If any of them bond with something that powerful, I’m sure everything we know and love will eventually be destroyed or enslaved.”
He said each word in a blasé tone, like this was a trivial conversation about the weather.
“So that’s what you were all flustered about when we were in Thronehold,” Karna-Theasin muttered as he stroked his chin. “You were trying to stop this Second Ascension group.”
I stared down at Setti’s paperwork. This was just a simple report about the existence of the Second Ascension. It barely went into detail. Why would Theasin want this? Setti said she had stolen it from another researcher. Did Theasin just want to know what they knew?
“And you know all of this for certain?” Karna glared with Theasin’s face—which was actually intimidating. “And you’re not doing anything about it?”
“We told the Frith Guild,” Adelgis said. “They’re handling it even as we speak.”
“You trust one of these guilds to handle a problem of this magnitude?”
“I do.” Adelgis opened the door. “And once we cure Volke, we’re going to return and do what we can to help. Isn’t that right, Volke?”
I nodded as I jogged across the laboratory. “Yes.” I motioned to the hall. “Now let’s go. I don’t want to be here once Setti realizes frost snails aren’t real.”
18
Damaged
We exited Theasin’s personal lab—Setti had left the door unlocked, making our departure simple, though we couldn’t secure the door shut when we left.
The bone fragments touching my skin remained a constant presence in my thoughts. Something about them made me fidgety, almost restless. Having them close felt like standing on the edge of a wellspring, one filled with vast amounts of magic. I couldn’t seem to tap into it, though. It was just there. Like staring at something through a window. Able to see it, unable to touch it.
The three of us walked the long corridor, Karna-Theasin in the lead. Adelgis watched me the entire trek, his neutral expression more odd than usual.
Plague Arcanist (Frith Chronicles Book 4) Page 16
